Mumbai Indians (MI) veteran opener Rohit Sharma met Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) batter Abdul Samad before the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 clash between the two teams at the Wankhede Stadium on April 27. Rohit, as a senior player, gets approached by young players often for batting tips. His juniors see him as a mentor figure. This year, he struggled to be among the runs in the initial stage of the competition but in the last couple of games, he looked dominating against bowlers. It was his effort that helped Mumbai outplay Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH).
Ahead of the contest, Rohit and Samad held a healthy chat with each other. In a video shared on X by Lucknow, the 37-year-old MI stalwart imparts batting tips to the young Super Giants’ batter. Posting the clip, LSG wrote a caption, "Keeping it straight and simple." Rohit, in the video, can also be seen saying, “Whatever ability you have, whatever talent, whatever technique, some things don’t work without technique, let’s accept that. Tu mere jaisa nahin khel sakta, mein tere jaisa nahin khel sakta (You can’t play like me, I can’t play like you).” He also added, “Tera apna ek talent hai (You have your talent). If I go to copy you or you try to copy me, or if I go to copy his technique or his technique, life will pass by in that time. Most important is what is up here."
LSG will want their captain Rishabh Pant to lead from the front
In this tournament, LSG captain Rishabh Pant has looked timid with his bat but his team will not lose hope of his comeback in the tournament. With 106 runs in nine matches at a strike rate of 96.36, he has failed to justify his colossal price tag of the costliest IPL player with INR 27 Crore.
However, the 27-year-old has the potential to bounce back with his bat. With Lucknow placed in the sixth spot on the points tally, he will look to step up and play an intrepid innings against Mumbai, who have won their last four games in an exceptional style.
